These soft and fudgy Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies are the ultimate festive treat! Topped with peppermint candy kisses, they’re made in just one bowl and ready in under 30 minutes—perfect for holiday baking or gifting!
These Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies are the ultimate holiday treat that will instantly become a favorite at your festive gatherings. With a rich, chocolatey cookie base infused with a hint of peppermint and topped with a festive peppermint candy kiss, these cookies combine classic holiday flavors with a delightful presentation. Not only are they a feast for the taste buds, but they also bring a pop of holiday cheer to your dessert table.
Whether you’re baking for a family Christmas party, a cookie exchange, or just to enjoy at home with a mug of hot cocoa, these cookies are guaranteed to impress. Easy to make and irresistibly delicious, they’re the perfect addition to your holiday baking lineup.
If your’e fan of chocolate and peppermint try my peppermint mocha cookies, peppermint bark brownies or andes mint brownies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Rich and Chocolatey: The soft, fudgy cookie base is packed with deep cocoa flavor that perfectly complements the refreshing peppermint topping.
- Festive and Eye-Catching: These chocolate peppermint cookies are a great holiday spin on the classic thumbprint cookies.With their iconic peppermint candy kiss on top, these cookies are as beautiful as they are delicious, making them the perfect addition to your holiday cookie tray.
- Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor: You don’t need anything fancy to make these cookies—just pantry staples, cocoa, and peppermint extract.
- Versatile Holiday Treat: Perfect for cookie swaps, gifting, or simply indulging during the holiday season. You can even customize the topping with other candy kisses for different occasions.
- Freezer-Friendly: The dough and cookies store well, so you can prepare them ahead of time and bake fresh batches when needed
Ingredient Notes
- Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses: The star of the show, adding a decorative and flavorful touch.
- Unsalted Butter: Provides richness and keeps the cookies soft.
- Granulated Sugar: Granulated white sugar provides sweetness and a chewy texture to the brownies.
- Light Brown sugar: You can also use dark brown sugar in place of light brown sugar.
- Egg: I like to use room temperature large eggs.Adds structure and helps bind the ingredients together.
- Peppermint Extract: A little goes a long way to give these cookies their festive flavor.If you don’t have or prefer not to use peppermint extract, you can substitute it with pure vanilla extract.
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides structure to the cookies. Spoon and level for accurate measurement.
- Unsweetened dark cocoa powder – I like to use the Hershey’s Special Dark.You can use dutch processed or regular unsweetened cocoa powder as well but note the color of the cookies may look different.
- Baking Soda & Salt: Ensure proper leavening and balance the flavors.
- Milk: Any kind of milk will work.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here is how to make and bake this peppermint kiss cookies recipe. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).You can use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Make the Dough
Step 1:Cream Butter and Sugars: In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
Step 2:Add Egg and Peppermint Extract: Mix in the egg ,egg yolk and peppermint extract until smooth.
Step 3:Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and teaspoon salt.
Step 4:Mix Dough: Gradually add the dry ingredients and milk to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined and no white specs of flour remain.If the dough seems too dry add an extra table spoon of milk.
Step 5:Shape Dough: Using a small cookie scoop, portion out 1-tablespoon portions of dough, roll them into 1-inch balls.Then, roll each ball in granulated sugar and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Step 6:Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set but the centers look slightly soft.
Step 7:Press the Kisses: Immediately press a Hershey’s peppermint kiss into the center of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven.This will make the cookie crack a little, but that’s totally fine.
Step 8:Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips & Tricks
- Work Quickly with the Kisses: Add the peppermint kisses as soon as the cookies come out of the oven so they adhere without melting.
- Use Quality Cocoa: For the best flavor, opt for a high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Don’t Overbake: The cookies should still look soft in the center when you take them out; they’ll firm up as they cool.
- Handle Kisses Gently: To avoid melting, allow cookies to cool slightly before adding the hershey’s kisses.
- Chill the Dough: If the dough feels too soft to handle, wrap it tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Chilling the dough will firm it up, making it easier to scoop and roll into balls.
FAQs
Yes! Regular chocolate kisses or any other flavor will work if you prefer.
Let the cookies cool for a minute or two before adding the kisses. The residual heat will help them stick without melting.
Yes! You can make the dough up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate it until ready to bake.
Absolutely! See storage and freezing instructions below.
Storage & Freezing
Storage:
- Store these peppermint kiss cookies cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Separate layers with parchment paper to prevent the kisses from smudging.
Freezing:
Baked Cookies: Once cooled, freeze the cookies in a single layer on a baking sheet. Transfer to a freezer-safe container, separating layers with parchment paper, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Unbaked Dough: Shape the dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet, and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag and store for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding an extra 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
More Holiday Recipes You Will love
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Recipe
Peppermint Kiss Cookies
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 2 large baking sheets
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar divided
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1-3 tablespoon milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- 34 Candy Cane Kisses unwrapped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder,soda and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and ½ cup of white sugar, brown sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy for 3-4 minutes.
- With the mixer on medium speed mix in the egg, egg yolk, and peppermint extract until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients a little at a time while mixing on slow until combined. Mix in the milk until smooth and dough comes together.
- Roll dough into 1 inch balls (about 1 tablespoon) and then roll in the ¼ cup sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
- When done, immediately move cookies onto a cooling rack or plate. Let them cool for 5-6 minutes and then gently press the kisses into the top. (If you do it earlier or leave them on the hot pan the kiss will get too warm and lose its shape.)
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